Follow the Clues takes the children on a fact-finding mission through the Bile, learning about the promises that God gave to his people through the generations. With the help of some 1920’s detectives and private investigators, the children will discover evidence in the Bible proving that God promised to restore our relationship with him, and that all of his promises across the ages were fulfilled in Jesus.

Last week, 11 students and 2 faculty members of the Brisbane School of Theology came to St Bart’s to be involved in many different areas. Over this week they were involved in children’s ministry, university ministry, nursing home services, small group visits, youth group, pastoral visiting, and they helped us greatly with our Prayer Night, Women’s Coffee and Dessert Night, and our Father’s and Children’s BBQ.

At our 6PM service we were able to here from Beth and her experience in the BST Mission week. Please be praying for the students that God will be at work in them and their ministries as a result of this week.

The Annual General Meeting was held today, receiving the reports from 2018 (with great thanks to God), and also approving of our 2019 budget. We have so much to give thanks for and if you missed the annual report, you can still download it and read with thanksgiving.

Our Annual Report is now available for download or you can pick up a printed copy from St Bart’s. Please note that our Annual Meeting will be on March 3 at 11.30AM. It is at this meeting that we will formally receive the reports and also vote to accept the 2019 budget. Please note that everyone is invited to attend, however to vote you must be a member of St Bart’s. To become a member, please complete the online form.

Today we shared a progress finance update as we seek to be good stewards with all that God has entrusted to us. We have much to give thanks to God for! To read the full report, please access the PDF here.

On Saturday, it was with great thanks to God that the Archbishop led our STAGE TWO dedication service. Over 70 people were involved in bringing the service together, with over 400 people coming along. Many people have commented on the joy of the service, the wonderful nature of the hospitality, the inspiring music, the significance of the speeches, the quality of the children's program, the encouragement of our Archbishop and Bishop, and so much more. Thank you to everyone who was involved!

With great thanks to God, it was amazing today to celebrate our very first services in STAGE TWO today. Remarkably, this comes only 364 days after we drove a stake into the ground on Sunday, July 17 2016. Today marks an important milestone in the life of our community and church. But whilst we might be worshipping in a new space, nothing has changed about our mission to make and mature disciples of Jesus for God’s glory.

With STAGE TWO now complete, we now have some gardening to be done! In fact, with our moved and expanded gardens, we have 200+ new plants to be planted in garden beds. Many hands will make light work, so please come along on Saturday July 22 and/or 29 from 8.30AM. If you've never gardened before, don't worry, there will be plenty of people to give a helpful hand.

It's absolutely amazing that our first Sunday services in STAGE TWO will be next Sunday! As advertised, we'll be praying from 7to7 the night before. There are still a few time slots available for our prayer vigil the night before. If you can be part of this important time of prayer, for one hour on the night before, please contact the church office by phone (07 4636 2922) or email (office@stbarts.com.au).

In just two weeks’ time, we will be celebrating our very first Sunday services in STAGE TWO! It’s hard to believe that this project only started in the planning phase about one year ago. In preparation for this transition, here are some key ways to get involved.

With great thanks to God, we’re delighted to announce that the official opening for STAGE TWO will be on Saturday, August 26 at 10AM. The Archbishop will be leading the service and officially opening the building. It will be a wonderful occasion to give great thanks to God and commit the building to the purposes of the mission of God. To RSVP, please follow the link below.

Last week Adam wrote in the NEWS with a request for people to pray that God would raise up additional volunteers for Sunday Morning Children’s Ministry at 9.30AM. This number of additional people is needed in order to resource this growing ministry and take advantage of the new space available with STAGE TWO. With great thanks to God...

With great thanks to God, Sunday July 16 will be our first Sunday in STAGE TWO for our 7.30AM, 9.30AM, and 6PM services. In preparation, we’re holding a “7to7” prayer vigil the night before. Please sign up using the clipboard in the church foyer to help ensure that this next step in the life of our church continues to be grounded in prayer. Alternatively, call the church office (07 4636 2922) and ask for your name to be added to the list.

This Sunday we have an opportunity to write Bible verses on the floor of STAGE TWO before the carpet goes down. It might be helpful to think about parts of the Bible that reflect how great our God is and our hopes for how God will use this building. If you're in a family, it would be terrific to choose a verse together and then write it on Sunday.

It has certainly been cramped these past two weeks, and the dust has been flying as the new extension and Stage 1 merge, but the anticipation of things to come is greatly heightened. The most asked question is “When will it be finished?”. I can tell you that the staff will be moving into the offices on Thursday June 15, and the rest of the building will be available the following week (with further fit-out required prior to us using the worship space).

With only a short amount of time before we will move into the building (hooray!), we've launched a campaign to sponsor a chair! The new worship space will seat up to 450 people which means, with the use of some of our current chairs, we will need to purchase an additional 300 chairs (at a cost of around $150 each). If you would like to sponsor a chair (and perhaps one on behalf of someone who is not yet a member of St Bart’s), pick up a form today from church (download here) or complete the form below. Whilst this doesn’t mean you have a permanent seat booked, it is a great way that we can all be part of the final stage!

Sponsor a Chair Form

Name *

Name

First Name

Last Name

Number of chairs that you would like to sponsor ($150 each) *

Total Sponsorship Amount *

$

*

I will deposit the funds in the St Bart’s Building Account (details at bottom)

With only a month now before Hutchinson’s complete the construction of Stage TWO, you can imagine that things are rapidly moving forward. We have now reached lock up stage, so that means the new building is secure. The walls have been sheeted and all the windows and doors are in place. The brickwork around the offices is almost done, and the kid’s room extension is very close.
The auditorium ceiling framing is showing a defined shape and Visual Focus have prepared their bit for hanging speakers, lighting bars and data projectors. The plasterer was busy on Saturday catching up and painting will soon commence.

It also means that Adam no longer has his office as it has been incorporated into a large meeting room. The entrance which was an office is also out of bounds and the reception area has just lost seating space. So, if the foyer looks cluttered, it is because we have nowhere else to put things. It’s only a temporary measure and by the end of next month we will have space once again and will no longer have to breathe alternately.

So now our attention is drawn to what happens after the builders have finished and St Bart’s become the custodian. The Facilities Task Group will meet on Monday May 22 again, and the budget will be looked at to see what funds we can apportion where.

Trying to remain calm on the surface, while paddling very hard so please continue praying that we haven’t forgotten anything major.

We are less than two months away from completion of the extension known as STAGE TWO. Of course, it will be a little while after that before all the equipment and seating is installed but we are more than half way along with the project.
Last week saw the timber framing of the offices constructed, external windows, air conditioning ducting, framing of Kid’s room 1 and the prayer/quiet room and preparation for the plastering of the internal walls of the auditorium. About 4.5km of cabling was installed last week, mostly for the cbus lighting system that will provide ultimate control over the lights in the auditorium, all controlled from the AV desk. Work has been progressing smoothly. At the end of this week Adam’s office will be no more and the place that David uses as an office will also be converted to an entrance. So, for several weeks, the existing building will be in a state of merging with the new section.

Hutchies have gone to great lengths to allow work to continue in the offices as long as possible but there comes a time when only the reception area will be accessible at the southern end of the building.

Financially we are still on track to meet all commitments, but repayments of almost $11,000 pm on the loan will commence next month.

Pictures have been posted on Facebook of the work to Friday May 21.

Please continue to pray for safety on the work site as much of the work is done about 6 metres from the ground on scissor lifts.

After several weeks of seemingly not much happening, the crane came in on Wednesday and lifted 15 concrete walls cast on the ground, some over 20 tonnes, into position. Those who witnessed it were in awe, and the congregation shared in viewing the time lapse video in church this morning. It is also on the website. But wait, there’s more. The structural steel arrived on the truck on Thursday morning as “mainly music” was in full swing. By Saturday evening it was all in place about 7 metres above where we will be sitting in just over 3 months.
So far there have been no surprises and Hutchinsons have been brilliant to work with.

The congregation was informed this morning of how we are situated financially, but we should all be thankful to God that this time last year we did not even have anybody engaged to do the work.

We only have a little over two weeks left in the month, but by the end of next week, the roof insulation and sheeting will be started, and by the end of the month, the gutters and down pipes will be installed, a retaining wall beside the footpath complete and footings for the offices poured. A copy of the Gantt chart is in the foyer.

Today, the last of the contents of the play room cupboards will be moved, as on Monday the concrete walls at the back of the cupboards will be cut and the doors and frames removed. There will be some slight inconvenience in the play room while this happens, but it will be sheeted up by next weekend so the playroom can be used.

Showers are forecast this week but that shouldn’t interfere with the program for Stage 2. During the week, the main activity has been setting out and pouring the panels which will become the walls of the auditorium. There are 15 panels with already 9 poured, sitting on the ground in three stacks separated by only a film of non-stick spray. The walls will be 175mm thick so they are quite solid.
The week after, a crane will lift and position them and the structural steel will follow. We have 2 weeks before the builders will need to remove part of the existing wall. That will be on March 13.